Chapter 11

Ludicrous Accusations

Cloaked, shifty figures bobbed in and out of the gypsy hideout – a cloistered section of Munich, as though it were the underworld itself. Ed and Wolf concealed themselves in the trees and bushes on the edge of the city. By "peak," Wolfrik certainly had not exaggerated. It was the perfect description for what it was – the only thing Ed could think to call it. A secluded group of buildings inlaid into the forest, in the shape of an equilateral triangle. Each "side" of the "triangle" measured approximately one mile. So, in almost every sense, it was rightly named "The Southern Peak of Munich," even if peaks generally were the northernmost point rather than southernmost. Apart from the city, from a sky point of view, it would look like the peak of the city.

Edward and Wolfrik hid at the very "apex" of the "peak," which also happened to be where the gypsy deal-ins were. One building stood behind all the rest, not exactly hidden but not in plain sight, either. They watched, biding their time, as countless travelers of all shapes and sizes entered and exited, a strange pair seeing them in at the front.

"Come right in! I hear we have a very rare item indeed!" the taller one, – but still small for his age, – greeted each passerby. Most of them ignored him, though they did need an okay stamp to get past the guards behind. The other stamper had far more attention: a girl, no taller than Wolf, with black hair and eyes.

"Hello. Welcome back. It's up the ramp and to your left, yep. Welcome," she greeted each person she stamped, a pleasant smile on her face. "Oh, hello, György."

The gypsy man who came up to her, stamp card in one hand, returned her smile. "It's been a while since I'd seen you, Mei," he said.

"I was about to say the same," said Mei. "How's the tilling going?"

"Ah, it's been hard work, but I think we'll make it before the officials find out, assuming they won't say we're tilling on their land."

"Aren't your crops on a reserve, though?" Mei inquired, stamping the other, more hurried gypsies' cards so they could pass.

György let out a booming laugh. "You think that will stop the German police?"

After that, Ed tuned out the rest of the conversation in order to work out a plan of infiltration with Wolf. "Alright," he said in a subdued whisper, "it looks like they have a tight system, so getting in is going to be tricky. First of all, we'll need to grab ahold of someone's card and…" His thoughts drifted away from him when he realized Wolf was no longer there, out in the open and going straight toward the crowd of gypsies. "WAI – COME BA – ARE YOU LISTENING?!" Ed babbled incoherently. He clambered through and over the bushes' branches after Wolf.

Meanwhile, Wolf pranced right up to the entrance of the hideout, to the girl about his height, and took a mannerly bow. "Good afternoon, Miss Cheng," Wolf said, a gracious sway to his voice.

Mei sighed. "I told you not to call me 'Miss Cheng,'" she said impatiently. But her pleasant smile came back when she said, "Just call me Mei."

"Of course," he said, embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. "Can do, Mei." Just then, Ed caught up, standing beside him and panting. He grabbed the scuff of Wolf's coat. Mei gave them a clueless look as Ed dragged him a little ways away.

"WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR, YOU LITTLE –?"

"Quiet!" Wolf said in a hushed voice, waving Ed's volume down with his hands. "Don't want to cause a fuss – otherwise we won't be permitted in if we seem to be too much trouble."

"How could we not already be 'too much trouble' when we're the only people here without stamp cards?!" Ed demanded, affronted by Wolf's friendly demeanor.

Wolf wiped Ed's hand off his the collar of his coat and said, "Don't worry. I've got it under control. I said you needed my help, didn't I? Well, I know these people so just act cool. Follow my lead." He began walking back toward Mei, who still continued to stamp cards.

Ed followed, muttering, "I thought I told you to do exactly as I say no matter what," but Wolf only gave him a look over his shoulder that said, "Trust me on this, okay?" which shut Ed up.

"Mei, this is my mother's ex-apprentice, Edmund Heiderich," Wolf introduced, gesturing to Ed. "Edmund, this is Mei Cheng, a traveler from China who came to investigate this country's affairs."

"Geez, don't tell him so much right off the bat, Wolf," Mei pouted. Nevertheless, she smiled up at Ed when she shook his hand. "How do you do? I've heard a lot about you from Wolf."

"Oh really? Like what?" Ed asked, intrigued by how this hyper Xingese-looking girl and Wolfrik Curtis had ever come to meet. Now that was a story he wanted to be informed on.

"Like how much of a downer you are," Mei said simply, still smiling as sweetly as ever. "Don't worry, I'll try not to take it personally."

At that point Ed was twitching with anger, which Wolfrik saw, and quickly jumped forward and took Mei's wrist. "OOOKAY, I THINK THAT'S ENOUGH OF INTRODUCTIONS." Once sure Ed wouldn't skin him alive, Wolf cleared his throat. "Ahem. So Mei, I was wondering if you could squeeze us in at the auction today."

So they are going to sell her into slavery?! Ed blistered, sure to keep his expression in check. What kind of sick freaks would do that? He was beginning to take the officials' side in all of this. Then again, they're the ones responsible for the war, aren't they? Ahg! I can't even think straight anymore! Why is Germany in a war in the first place? And with whom?! (Keeping up with two realities, especially when they're so similar, is not as easy as it may sound.)

"The auction? But why would you want to go in there?" Mei asked. "It's not like you want to buy something."

"Well, y'see, I just wanted to show Edmund. He's never been before," Wolf said, grinning amiably but persistently, keeping ahold of her wrist. Mei was thinking it over, and before she could give her answer, the other stamper noticed them and came marching over.

"What's the deal, girl?! You're holding up the line!"

"Sorry, sir, I was just talking with my friends," she said defensively.

"Friends? Who're your friends?" The scrawny man took one look at Ed and his face transformed into something of congested fright, breaking into a half-frown, half-terrified fix. "UH?! YOU?!" he screeched, pointing at Edward. The remaining travelers and gypsies entering the hideout momentarily stopped what they were doing to see what could have caused the high-pitched caw.

"Uhh, do I know you?" Ed said.

"WHAT?! DO I KNOW YOU?! ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?!" the man yelled shrilly.

Ed blinked. The pointy black mustache, bald head, slanted eyes, and scrawny man did not look familiar. "No...?"

"DON'T YOU REMEMBER ME?! I'M YONDEE!"

"Mr. Yondee, I think you should be a little quieter," Mei input, which did seem to calm him down – having taken his place with stamping cards of incoming shoppers, though the traffic into the drab place had died down quite a lot from when Ed and Wolf had first viewed in the trees.

"You destroyed my Thai trading company no more than a few months ago; how could you not remember?!" Yondee questioned wildly.

"Uhh, well, I have a lot of jobs, y'know?" Ed said, uncertain with himself. Great, I have no idea what he's talking about. I'm completely winging it.

"Anyway, Mr. Yondee, they were wondering if they could get into the auction today," Mei said, stamping the cards to a group of five.

"Get into the auction?" Yondee said, confused. He faced Ed when he asked, "Why would someone like yourself come to such a filthy place as this for an auction of scraps? Surely there are others that would better suit your wants."

"That's the thing, I'm particularly interested one item at the moment, which I know they only sell here," Ed said, severe but cool-headed.

"Then I guess you have come to the right place!" Yondee exclaimed, thrusting his hands above his head.

"All done!" Mei said, stamping the last of the customers through. The two gypsy guards on either side of the stained metal opening waited for Yondee, Mei, Wolf, and Ed to go pass before following themselves.

"Shall we go in?" Yondee said, giving Ed a crafty smirk and standing aside for Ed and Wolf to go through first. Yondee's crafty smirk flipped a switch in Ed's mind. He did remember. Well, not this version, but Yondee's alternate. He'd only seen that constipated deviousness in the mayor of a certain mining town on the edge of Amestris: First Lieutenant Yoki.

So he was smuggling goods from Thailand – some other Asian country – into Germany, this one, eh? Ed pieced together from Yondee's earlier outburst. Speaking of which, what had become of the original Yoki? Hopefully he's in as pathetic of a state as this one, like he deserves, Ed thought mercilessly, unable to help grinning a little.

The hall they trudged down now abruptly dropped off down a steep flight of stairs, completely unlit except for one light above the door at the bottom of the stairs. Yondee and Mei walked lead the way in front, Ed and Wolf next, and the two guards in tow. The walls were stained a deep-rust color that was almost black, so one light dented little of the reflected darkness. The outer entrance had no door, which seemed to explain the black rust in the metal halls – from the wear and tear of many thunderstorms throughout the years.

Mei wore a brown cloak with a hood, and when the hood's folds grew ears, Ed swore it was just his imagination, a trickery of the light. That is, until a head and neck rested itself on Mei's shoulder and yawned, revealing inch-long white fangs. Ed staggered backward.

"What is it?" Wolf asked, everyone stopped. Mei was facing him, two slitted, green eyes, piercing in the dark hallway just below Mei's left ear.

"Th-th-that!" Ed stammered, rapt to the green eyes on Mei's shoulder.

"What would be the issue?" Yondee asked again.

Ed pointed to the creature on Mei's shoulder. Mei and everyone else looked that direction.

"Oh, you mean her?" Mei asked, her hands going to lift the thing out of her hood. "She's just a cat. Her name's Jiang," she said, a petite – yet somehow intimidating – brown and white cat between her hands. It yawned again.

"O-oh..." Ed huffed, scared for nothing. "Must be tired..." A cat, huh? He knew someone else who always found and kept stray cats... How long has it been since I've seen –?

"Wow, you were scared silly by a little cat?! Hahaha!" Wolf teased. "And it's even smaller than you! Though I'm not sure how that's possi –"

"Excuse me, everyone, but we should be going in now," Yondee interrupted. "The auction is about to start."

Down the stairs, Yondee made rhythmic taps on the metal door with his fist, and they were permitted inside.

Who knew it would be so easy? And what would these thieves and black market salesmen be auctioning?

Tell you this, nothing at all he'd suspected. And probably nothing you'd suspected, either. There were no slaves deals being shouted across the room, or young girls sold to creepy old men. Actually, it was probably the most mild thing possible, compared to the picture Ed had painted in his mind. It was packed full; there was no error of that. One huge room with four levels, three of them mere balconies with cell doors, – as though it'd been some kind of detainment center, or perhaps used to store and make wine, – the entirety of the stairwells, balconies, floor, and ceiling layered with the same rust, not nearly as dark and blackened. Many tables were spread out across the main, first floor, over two-hundred feet long, one-hundred feet wide, and some hundreds of feet high. Gypsies, travelers, foreigners, buyers, brokers, and auctioneers surveyed each table. The only merchandise to be found was old pottery, handmade clothes, rugs, and jewelry, wood carvings, and wax, paint, and photography art. Nothing of the sort Ed had anticipated.

"Please feel free to buy or sell anything you want," Yondee said, oblivious to the shock Ed displayed clearly on his face.

"Sure will! Thanks, Mister!" Wolf called, waving with one of his "cute" smiles. Yondee faked a smile in return, then scowling and walking off to sift through the merchandise himself. Ed noticed the guards behind him had disappeared, too.

"So what's the rare item here that everyone wanted to check out?" Wolf asked Mei, hands on his hips. Ed was still trying to comprehend what exactly was going on.

"There was a rumor someone brought in some Egyptian gold," Mei said with a certified edge to her voice. "Could just be a rumor, but a lot of sellers like to wait until the day has gotten later to build the anticipation. So they may not reveal it until later."

"Okay, well thanks, Mei," Wolf said, walking toward the left staircase. Ed obediently went after him, unsure of where else he could go. Now that he was here, he wondered if Wolf had just played him.

"Wait, where are you going?" Mei ran to catch up with them, her hood falling from her head. Two black buns held the majority of her hair, the rest bouncing off her shoulders. Jiang, the cat, yowled irritably, nesting herself closer to Mei's neck so as not to be tipped off.

"We're going to look around; see if that rumor is true," Wolf said, halfway up the stairs.

Once a few people had passed between them, Mei squeaked, "Okay." She turned and went the opposite way, Jiang's white fangs showing again as she yawned, dissolving into the crowd of those interested in the auction.

"Well this is great," Ed said as people passed them on the stairs. "There's nothing suspicious here at all! They must have taken her somewhere else..."

Wolf said nothing, and climbed the rest of the stairs to the first level.

"Hey, Wolf! Where're you going?" Ed ran after him. When Wolf got to the top, he took a sharp left to the wall of the first cellar cubical where they were out of plain sight.

"Listen, I know what you're thinking," he said in a low voice. "You think she isn't here, but what you don't know is that she is."

"What do you mean?"

Wolf waited until a few gypsy buyers had gone by, then said, "I mean is that while this is going on here, the gypsies you saw take Teresa have her somewhere else in the building."

Sweat broke out on Ed's forehead. "Wait, are you saying that this entire auction is just a ruse to make ordinary buyers believe this is all there is here?"

Wolf's onyx eyes shifted to the bottom level where most of the tables were situated, auctioneers yelling out numbers while holding up various merchandise. "I'm not sure about that, but I'm guessing this isn't all they have, yes."

"Then where would we look to find her?"

Wolf faced the opposite direction of the "lobby." Ed turned too, to see what he was looking at. Behind the "cellars," – which looked more like prisoner cells to Ed, – there was another staircase, not leading to one of the higher levels of cellars with more tables, but a door. "Over there," Wolf said. And, with a quick scan, he scampered to the stairs and the door, Ed behind him.

With one more scan, and they disappeared into the next area.

Another dark, musty hallway, Ed thought grimly, pinching his nose with one gloved-hand as their boots scraped against the black rust on the floor, echoing down to the light viewable at the end. I hope our feet don't give us away.

"Eww, what's that smell?" Wolf inspected the ground under his feet to check for anything vile. "Almost smells like the sewers down here," he said, going forward slowly, both hands in front of him.

"Oh, yeah? And how would you know what the sewers smelled like?" Ed gave a cunning grin under the hand pinching his nose.

Wolf scoffed. "Intuition. Don't look too much into things, Mister."

When they got to the end of the hall, it turned directly onto a balcony in a larger room. Steam pipes ran all across the ceiling and walls, the balcony they stood on now overlooking a square room. It seemed relatively high, though the end of the balcony couldn't have been less than the same distance away as the ceiling from the floor. The balcony only lined three sides of the boiler-like room, where it ended at one other door. On the bottom level, there lay a door in the center between the start and finish of the balcony. Other than that, the room was piled with crates and barrels, most on their sides and homing hay or nothing at all.

"I've never been in here before."

The voice speaking was neither Ed's nor Wolf's, confirmed when they both turned to the other, confused at whose voice was so girly and high. In flawless correspondence, their heads moved back to the long hallway they'd emerged from to see Mei staring into the boiler room wonderingly. Jiang popped her ears out of Mei's hood and yowled.

"MEI?!" Wolf and Ed yelped together.

"What're you doing here?" Wolf grilled, going from Mei to the hall to Mei again to ensure no one else had come. "How'd you get down here? Were you spying on us? Who else is with you?!"

Mei hit him on the head with one fist, irritated. "Don't accuse me of spying!" she ordered, chin in the air as Wolf rubbed his scalp, moaning. "I just followed you nimrods and this is where I ended up. Don't blame me if you weren't conspicuous enough."

"If you aren't spying on us then what are you doing?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, exactly!" Wolf yelled, his fists clenched while giving her a sated glare.

Mei wasn't at all afraid of Wolf's angry stance. "I was bored. No one has anything interesting this year. And if that rumor about the Egyptian gold is true, then they won't reveal it until much later. Anyway... what're you guys doing down here? You aren't interested in the auctions, are you?"

Ed and Wolf exchanged a look, asking the other if they should tell her. "Um..."

Footsteps and harsh voices resounded on the other side of the door on the ground level. Ed and Wolf scrambled to get out of sight, Mei going clueless again. Wolf grabbed her arm and yanked her behind the opening to the hall.

"Hey, what –?"

Wolf put his hand over her mouth. She shoved it off.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded fiercely, whispering.

"Shh." Wolf stared intently into the boiler room with Ed. Soon Mei did too.

"Damn, she's a frisky one, isn't she?" The first to come through the door was none other than the gypsy he'd nicknamed "Bulk," with his pipe-thick arms.

"Yes, however... I wasn't expecting her to be quite so young." If not by his face, Ed could recognize that low, intense rumble anywhere. Scar, known as Isaiah in this world. His arms here crossed, one hand on his chin, looked to be thinking something over.

"Ah, who cares?" said Bulk, spreading his arms. "To believe that little –"

"Milosh, that's enough," a woman interjected. The woman was Bike Holder.

"What?" Bulk, now Milosh, inquired jokingly. "You know I'm right."

"All we need is for that freak to come and see we're serious about giving up this stupid scam," said another, someone Ed didn't know, though had probably been present that morning when they'd taken Teresa. "Nothing more."

"I agree with Syeira," said the younger man who'd protected Noah from Envy, sitting on one of the crates, elbows on his knees, head down. "We can't go and be getting greedy now. We all know what he's capable of." He lifted his, his expression earnest. "But I think we may have finally caught him on a tender spot. Maybe now we'll be able to –"

"No, I'm not so sure this will work," Isaiah cut in. He took his hand off his chin. "This man has the entire German police supporting him. I don't think they'll be swayed to give us up as their pawns so easily. Not over one girl."

If only that Scar knew how stupid he sounded to the one back in Amestris, slaughtering State Alchemists by the day, when the Ishvalan War was caused by the death of a single girl, Ed thought to himself while still maintaining one ear on their conversion.

"Thanks for having faith, Yonka," another man said, going up to the younger man on the crates. He put one hand on his shoulder. "We'll just have to see how this plays out."

The young man, Yonka, sighed. "Yeah... I guess you're right."

"I'll summon him," said Syeira, the bike holder, going to the stairs on the far side of the room's balcony.

"Do you think it's wise to call him here with so many people around?" one of the older men in the group asked, alarmed by their haste.

"He rarely comes even when we call him," Isaiah said. "And always late when we do, at that."

"We'll be lucky to get his presence in a week," Milosh said, chuckling heartily.

The gypsy Syeira gasped, one hand over her mouth. No more than three steps across the balcony, she'd spotted the three spies. "Someone's up here!" she shouted. The six or seven other gypsies on the ground level hurrying up the stairs to see.

"Where?!"

Ed only heard their footsteps as his mind tried to agglomerate their unnoticed and uncaught escape.

"What do we do?!" Wolf tugged on the sleeve of Ed's trench coat, Ed's mind unregistering the action. Before he knew it, Wolf and Mei were torn from his side, screaming and kicking, his arms forced behind him by the two gypsy men with no names Ed knew. He pulled, but one – alright, small – teenager against two adults was no match.

"Looky here," Milosh said amusedly, struggling to keep Wolf in his thick arms as he pulled his ears, hair, and nose. "Who knew three little rats would be lurking about at this time?"

"I'm not a little rat!" Ed yelled at him.

"Mei? What are you doing here?" Syeira said, staring at the Chinese girl. The man restricting Mei jumped back when he saw he recognized her face.

"I was just following them and then you guys came in!" she cried, pointing at Wolf and Ed. "I didn't know I'd be listening in on something secret!"

Syeira looked to Isaiah for their take of action.

"Whether she meant to or not doesn't matter," Isaiah said, straight-forward. "If she just heard everything we said, we can't have her blabbing to other gypsies. They'd try to stop us."

"You mean you're not all a part of kidnapping Teresa?" Ed blurted. Isaiah didn't acknowledge him aside from his usual intense gaze that always made Ed flinch. I think he knows I have some inert fear of him, Ed deduced from his lack of words. And the fact that Ed was trembling should have been enough of a clue to suggest he was afraid.

"That's two times you've gotten in our way, boy," said the man holding Ed's right arm. "If we wanted to, we could wipe your existence clean off the planet!"

Ed realized he had a slight advantage. His arm was made of metal. "I wouldn't be so sure of that!" All the strength transmitted to Ed's metal arm startled the man who'd previously spoken, his grip loosening just enough for Ed to slip free and sock him in the face, the man on his left next.

"GET HOLD OF HIM!" someone screamed. Ed was already far along on hopping off the balcony and down onto the ground floor, – sure to land more on his left leg than his right, – but a pair of hands took ahold of his upper arms and slammed him roughly into the rusty, metal floor as he reached the door to the basement.

Dammit, I left my back open in my haste to get this over with. From his cheek-smashed position, Ed attempted to catch a glimpse of his catcher.

"Didn't count on all of us going up there, did you?" said Yonka, placing one foot on Ed's back. "You're not going anywhere."

When Isaiah and the rest got down the stairs, Yonka handed Ed to the two men who'd held him before.

"Be sure to keep a tight hold on him this time," Yonka advised.

"Right," they said. One had a black eye, the other, swollen cheeks.

"Your right arm," Yonka continued, watching Ed, eyes narrowed. "Take off his gloves," he said suddenly. The two men did so – after much resistance from Ed, who tried to keep his hands into fists so they couldn't, but finally, they succeeded. "One made of flesh, the other of metal," Yonka said, grinning in a way Ed did not like one bit.

Isaiah stepped forward, the intense gaze gone from his face, shocked. "Wait, does that mean –?"

"Yep. He's the one," Yonka said. "The Fullmetal Alchemist from Shamballa."

Syeira barred her teeth, coming forth. "You're the one causing us all of this grief!" she accused.

"Now, now, it's not like he came here willingly," Yonka said. Then, looking at Ed, he asked, "Isn't that right?"

Ed remained silent, glaring at them. Wolf got free from Milosh's giant arms just long enough to shout, "I KNEW IT!" but was restrained the second his lips closed, a hand over his mouth.

"Damn, brat, shut up!" Milosh said.

Ed sustained his glare at the man, Milosh. It was him who'd done the same to Teresa, gagged her and taken off with her. Will Wolf blab to everyone now that he knows I'm not from Earth? No, that wasn't something he should worry about right now. If he ever gets the chance to...

"Miss Mei, I hate to have to ask this of you, but would you please accompany us to the basement?" said the older man who'd detained her.

"Of course," Mei said. Something about her aura had changed, changed into something somber. "I understand if this is something I'm not supposed to know or tell people about..."

"Well, this was unexpected," Yonka said, nodding. "Who'd know the Fullmetal Alchemist himself would come all this way just to save a friend?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed said bitingly, leaning against the gypsies at either arm. "You mean to say I shouldn't care about what cowards like you do to my friends?!"

Yonka grinned again, shrugging his shoulders. "No, that's not at all what I meant. The thing is, when we were assigned this job, we weren't told you'd actually have a personality."

That took Ed aback. "Huh?"

"They said you'd be some snob-nosed, spoiled, hot-tempered kid," Yonka explained. "But I can tell you've got far more character than that."

Ed didn't know whether to take a compliment from someone who had not only helped his enemies, but captured his friends as well. He didn't get enough time to decide before Yonka ordered, "All right, down to the basement we go," and opened the door behind him to reveal an endless expanse of stairs.


Putting Ed in tight spots is so fun oh my gosh you have no idea! This story is so fun to write! Again, I plan to get at least two chapters out this month, if not more. I'm not sure if I made it obvious enough or not, but Mei Cheng is, in fact, May Chang from Brotherhood. Ed hasn't met her yet in the series, so he wouldn't recognize her, in case you're wondering why I didn't state it clearly.

Your input on the story will forever be cherished, those who give it! Thanks for reading! (By the way, this is the longest chapter I've ever written in my history on FFN. O.o)